N600 or N600K ? Child abroad but was a derived Citizen when he was in US

dtambe

New Member
Dear All,

Appreciate your advice on my situation. I have tried to research on the net including reading the USCIS field manual on this topic and do not have clarity on how to proceed.

Self and Spouse got naturalized in May 2015. All of us (including my then 6 year old son) got US passports. My wife and son relocated to India immediately thereafter. I continued to stay in US. Last week they approached the US Consulate in Mumbai for passport renewal and were asked for a Certificate of Citizenship for my son.

N600 is the usual option to obtain the Certificate, however the child regularly stays abroad with this mother. The form instructions state that the child should reside in the US. N600-K for children residing abroad does not seem to be a valid option since Child derived citizenship under section 320 and therefore 322 will not apply.

What are my options ?
1. File N600 and get my son to US using his US passport when they schedule the interview
2. File N600-K with a covering letter knowing that it could get denied since child is already a US citizen by derivation under 320 Child Citizenship act ?

Appreciate your inputs and thanks in advance.
 
Option 1 .

And also try to renew passport whilst in the US . I never knew you had to get citizenship Certificate for a passport renewal once you have said passport .
 
The child is a US citizen. N-600K naturalization process is not applicable to someone who is already a citizen.

Just apply for the child's US passport. A Certificate of Citizenship is not needed to get a US passport. For evidence of the child's US citizenship, they can use either the old US passport, or the evidence that the child derived citizenship (child's green card + parent's Certificate of Naturalization + parents' marriage certificate). See DS-11 passport application form:

APPLICANTS BORN OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES: Submit a previous U.S. passport, Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or evidence described below:
-If you claim citizenship through naturalization of parent(s): Submit the Certificate(s) of Naturalization of your parent(s), your foreign birth certificate (and official translation if the document is not in English), proof of your admission to the United States for permanent residence, and your parents' marriage/certificate and/or evidence that you were in the legal and physical custody of your U.S. citizen parent, if applicable.

The child could apply for a Certificate of Citizenship by filing N-600, but that is kind of a waste of money ($1170). I do not see anything in the form instructions that say that the applicant must be residing in the US at the time of applying for the certificate. Of course, the evidence needs to show that the child was residing in the US at the time of deriving citizenship.
 
Thanks.
As per instructions on N600

Who Should Not File Form N-600? You should not file this application if:
2. You are the child of U.S. citizen parents who regularly resides outside the United States. Refer to Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322;

There is no mention of the time period in this requirement.. whether it applies to present or the past when the child became a citizen.
Also, there is a question 21 on the form which specifically asks if yo regularly reside in US in the custody of your parents.

Sounds to me that i may not be able to use either n600 or n600k.
BTW i called USCIS reps on the helpline and the conversation went downhill so fast that i had to hang up due to the confusion. They actually asked me to file I-130 for the child.
 
The form and instructions are not very clear. The question is clearly intended to ask about whether you resided in the US at some point in time when you were under 18 and when your parent was a US citizen, but it wasn't worded clearly that way. But I stand corrected regarding being able to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship outside the US, since he needs to take the oath inside the US.

In any case, like I said, you don't need to waste money to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship for your son. He should just apply for a US passport instead.
 
US passport is good enough of a proof of citizenship. Why would the consulate require for Cert of Citizenship when the evidence of having a US passport is strong enough?
 
Update: Consulate did issue the passport after some back and forth. The IO "strongly recommended" that I get some other evidence of citizenship for my son besides the passport. When asked what I could do, she refused to elaborate and asked me to contact USCIS. At this time I am not going to apply for N600 or N600K since both are not suitable in this situation. I plan on making FOIA request for the A-file which will hopefully show the correct citizenship status.
 
An additional evidence of citizenship is not a requirement; a US passport is sufficient evidence.

IOs stationed in India aren't the most helpful, but a factor could be because they have to deal with a quite a bit of back and forth with individuals.
 
OP, the only issue here is that the cost to file N-600/K keeps going up. So in 5 years when your son's passport comes up for renewal again you will be dealing with the same hassle. I feel that the sooner you get coc the better for your wallet. I dont get why it doesnt cost the same as the N-400.

I am under the impression that the A-file will not show your child as a citizen. I would love to be proven wrong! Please give an update if you can.
 
OP, the only issue here is that the cost to file N-600/K keeps going up. So in 5 years when your son's passport comes up for renewal again you will be dealing with the same hassle. I feel that the sooner you get coc the better for your wallet. I dont get why it doesnt cost the same as the N-400.

I am under the impression that the A-file will not show your child as a citizen. I would love to be proven wrong! Please give an update if you can.
Agreed.would be nice to have a Document "COC" that never expires seeing the OP resides outside of the US.
 
Top